Review: Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream; a Hidden Gem

Sunday, 12 April 2015

I'm so excited to post this review! One of the criticisms I hear about Asian beauty blogs is that it tends to be the same products over and over, and that there can be a bit of an 'echo chamber' that triggers mass bandwagoning of a single product that everyone writes about, while obscure treasures languish undiscovered and unloved.

The tricky thing is, unless you speak Korean and are plugged into the Korean blogging world, it can be difficult to catch wind of new trends/products while they're still in the developing stage. Sometimes, you just have to take a gamble with your wallet (and your skin) and hope for the best.

A lot of the time it doesn't work out, which leaves you with a drawer full of discarded products (I recently decanted mine and sent them off to friends [link to post], so they'd have new homes) but sometimes ... sometimes magic happens.

Like this 크라클팩토리 Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream:

Be still, my heart. Not only is the packaging gorgeous, but the cream ... well, you'll see.

Normally, I like to use products for months before reviewing them, and as of this blog post, I have only been using this cream for 23 days**. So why I am reviewing it so early? Well for one, I've already completed my two-week 'isolation' testing period where I introduce a new product in isolation to measure skin reactions, for another I'm just so in love with this cream that I have to talk about it, and lastly my friends are really tired of hearing me babble about it and are demanding to see the review already. (For more on my testing schedule, click here.)

** rest assured, months later and a secondthird fifth+ jar purchased, I still love it!

I should add that my expectations of a cream are pretty minimal: it should provide sustained hydration without becoming greasy, absorb easily into the skin, be pleasant to apply and wear, not have an offensive fragrance, and most importantly, not break me out. Er. Well I suppose that's actually a pretty picky list!

In this post:

Product details

Where and why I purchased it

Ingredients analysis

Packaging translations

Swatches to show the unusual texture

Final thoughts

This post may feature some terrible love poetry, I'm just warning you now.

Just as a quick reminder: this blog uses both affiliate and non-affiliate links, and if you choose to click the fomer before you shop, your purchase may contribute a tiny amount to the maintenance of this blog. See full details at the end of this post! #receipts

Scent: Medium scent, and smells like ... flower-bottomed yogurt? But in a good way, it's a delicious smell and I could not stop sniffing the back of my hand after applying it. Definitely smells like it has a lot of flower and herb extracts, with a slightly fermented yogurt smell which is more delicious than it sounds, I promise.

Price: The price of the cream during the Lunar Sale was 12,900 krw, which (with handling fee) came out to $12.71 USD. Of course that doesn't count for KR to US shipping, but it was part of a larger haul. The site I got it from lists the regular price at 39,000 krw.

Availability: Only within Korea at the time of this post. You'll need to use a buying service to get it, like Avecko, which I'll detail below. **Update: It's blown up since this post and is now more easily available! You can now find it on:Amazon | eBay | Crystal Cove Beauty

Rating:4.5/5; the only thing stopping me from giving it the last 0.5 is 6+ months usage in multiple seasons. I'll come back and update this if anything changes, but I love this cream. Update: 5/5, this cream is bae. I'm almost done my second jar and I can't bear to try other creams.

Repurchase: Oh baby. You bet. Get out of my TBD list and into my cart, my second jar is already ordered. Update: I'm in deep, and I never want out. I'm on my third fourth jar and I've taken myself off the 'future cream options' market. The texture of my newest jar is a little thinner than the others, but supposedly it has not been reformulated and there's no other changes that I can detect, still love it.

Where and why I purchased it

Where I bought it: This was part of my most recent Avecko haul (click here for details) which was filled with goodies snagged during Korea's Lunar Holiday sale. If you're not familiar with Avecko, here's how it works:

You find an awesome product on a Korean site, but you 1. don't live in Korea, 2. don't speak Korean, and 3. don't have a Korean bank account. Thankfully, Avecko's buying service is your 'friend who lives in Korea' to help you out.

You supply the link to this awesome product to Avecko, and they confirm it's in stock, check if there is a domestic shipping charge, and then paypal invoice you the $$ that it will cost them to buy your product for you, + a tiny 10% handling fee.

You pay the invoice, they buy your product for you, and have it shipped to their office in Korea.

When it gets there, they weigh it and prep it for shipping to your country. They provide you with your postage options, you select the type of shipping you want, and they invoice you for the cost of what you chose.

I had been ogling this for a while but was unable to find any English translations and the image readers were struggling with the stylized Hangul too much for translation.

However, a Korean acquaintance took a look at it and said that not only was it a whitening cream (score!) but that it had received rave reviews from Korean beauty bloggers on Naver. That's all the encouragement I needed; I caved like wet cardboard and added it to my cart faster than you can say "enabled!"

I absolutely love the packaging as well; if you have watched any historical kdramas you will recognize the traditional jar visual they've used. (한방 Hanbang alert!)

It comes with a small spatula, which I will no doubt immediately lose, and has a sturdy yet elegant frosted glass jar. I'd happily reuse this as well; I like to purchase really expensive skincare products in samples to save money but I do miss the luxury of the beautiful packaging.

As I mentioned I recently made serious inroads on my stash so some friends could try them; I'm currently using the LJH Tea Tree Cream but I decanted a fair bit of it so I am glad this has arrived.

Also, allow me to show you what the advertisement looks like:

For anyone else who watches kramas and might be looking at this picture and wondering if this ad depicts a Gisaeng, a bit of research has informed me that this hairstyle is called Eonjun meori and was worn both by noblewomen and Gisaengs alike.(image source)

You had me at 한방, let's do this. HANBANG ME!

Ingredients Analysis

This ingredients list was translated from Korean by a wonderful, wonderful person who took pity on me and my liver, so I could avoid another "drunken lingerie-wearing violent bean thug" incident like my last ingredients translation attempt.

I ran the ingredients through Cosdna's analysis, although it's admittedly outdated and sometimes flags things it doesn't need to (Salicylic Acid) and doesn't flag others (Alcohol, Fragrance) so I always do my own research using a few sources.

There are a lot of good ingredients in this cream, and a few red flags. Anything that scored a 2 or higher is in red, beneficial ingredients are in blue:

Click for huge size if it's not readable as-is!

The first thing that caught my eye is Niacinamide, right there as the 4th ingredient down. Woah there Joseon Beauty Cream, you don't have to be any sexier than you already are, I loved you even before I knew you had a legitimate whitening** pedigree.

In fact the top 6 ingredients are: water, moisturizers, niacinamide, a fatty acid emulsifier, and hyaluronic acid. No wonder we've been having a torrid affair these last few weeks.

**A note on 'whitening'; as I mentioned in my review of the Skin79 White Reviving Skin Radiance Solution, 'whitening' does not mean 'bleaching', it means fading pigmentation damage. Also, phytosphingosine is not the only preservative; 1,2-hexanediol is also part of the preservative system although Cosdna does not accurately list that.

So the flags in this cream scored quite low, with nothing over 3/5 and most at 2/5. I researched each flag on cosmeticsinfo.org, which is my favourite site for cosmetic ingredients because they include the actual FDA and CIR safety rulings/studies in a layperson-friendly format. Rather than repeat "CIR says it's safe/safe in cosmetic-applicable concentrations/safe unless you're applying it to a burn victim" over and over, I'm just going to link the ingredients pages for the curious.

Ceramides are a buzzword these days but I've never bothered to research into them until now; I can tell from a preliminary search that these are going to need their own blog post someday, but for now, here's a tidbit:

Scientists are uncovering the important role that ceramides play in the barrier function of the skin. [...] The [stratum corneum] contains three types of lipids -- ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids.

[...] There are nine different types of ceramides in the SC, conveniently named ceramide 1 through ceramide 9, and they account for 40-50% of the lipids in this outermost layer. [...]

Scientists have learned that people who have eczema have significantly fewer ceramides in their SC. On the other hand, people with psoriasis (another itchy, flaky rash sometimes confused with eczema) have the same number of ceramides compared to people with normal skin. However, the psoriasis-sufferers have less ceramide 1, 3, 4, and a sub-set of 5 and 6; and more ceramide 2 and another sub-set of 5. [source]

It appears that like omega fatty acids, it's not just about quantity/presence, it's also about balance and synergy with other elements, so please take the 'ceramides' buzz with a grain of salt.

That being said, I found it interesting that this cream contains Ceramide 3, which is lacking in the skin of those with psoriasis.

Another ingredient that was new, and potentially exciting, to me was Human Oligopeptide-1, also known as 'EGF'. Specifically, it's synthetic EGF (epidermal growth factor), which according to this commercial site (do you still have that grain of salt handy?) is really shiny n' stuff:

EGF is a growth factor that plays an important role in the regulation of cell growth, proliferation, differentiation and survival. It stimulates the synthesis of DNA, RNA, hydroxyproline as well as hyaluronic acid, accelerates cell proliferation and differentiation of various epidermal tissues, such as epidermis of skin, gastrointestinal tract and cornea.The discovery of EGF won Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Motalcini a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1986.EGF acts by binding with high affinity to epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) on the cell surface ultimately leading to DNA synthesis and cell proliferation.EGF is a highly efficient cell division factor with a variety of biological activity. It can repair epidermis, delay aging, fade speckles, inhibit wrinkles, and moisten skin. The content of EGF in the body determines how old the skin is.

Now normally I wouldn't be linking a commercial site hawking its wares as a source, but 1. if I do a full-out research of EGF this post will be a thesis before I am done, 2. EGF is a stand-alone ingredient, outside of this site's product, which has a scientific pedigree, 3. the site links several scientific sources to support their claims, and 4. I just want to know what EGF supposedly is, not if it actually does it or not. Lastly, I expect my creams to just hydrate my face, not reverse the passage of time and give me the epidermis of a newborn. (Thought I'll happily take that if it's a perk.)

Packaging translations

This review was made possible by the translations of two merciful Korean-speaking saintly beings, one who translated the ingredients above, and another who translated the remaining text on the box. Thanks to them, only a single glass of fermented Vitis vinifera was consumed during this week's prep for this review, and that was solely the fault of my camera's inability to handle white balance.

Notice the dramatically lower level of cream left compared to the unboxing photos. I need to repurchase this ... stat. BRB.

Translation of above photo:

The Tale of the Joseon Beauty"Joseon Beauty" is a brand that was created by recreating the skincare knowledge of our ancestors that helped them care for and maintain their beautiful skin.Joseon Beauty Cream is made by using the ingredients written in the "Kyuhab Chongseo" (a guide compiled for women in the Joseon dynasty) to be a beautiful, clean woman (the four Chinese characters signify beautiful, clean woman) as well as pure water.Main ingredient 1: Orchid, honey, ginseng for beautiful women Beautiful like jade and a body like a flower Words that remind us of a precious and beautiful womanMain ingredient 2: Pure water, dried radish greens, rice bran, and gourd (dipper) Pure and beautiful water.Main ingredient 3: Flaxseed oil ceramide Flaxseed oil is rich in vitamin E and has been used for this reason since the Joseon dynasty as an oil to put on skin. It will maintain the barrier of our skin and nurture it healthily.

Well, our ingredients list confirms that orchid, honey, and ginseng are present, and I find the origin story so charming- although I always cynically assume they're just for marketing purposes. I do enjoy the idea that it is made using ingredients recommended in a historical guide to beauty from the Joseon dynasty, and makes you 'beautiful like jade', and the entire vibe is so 한방 it hurts; but it hurts so good.

The final side (not pictured) says the following:

[Warnings for when using this product]If any of the following issues arise when using this product, please stop the use of this product. If continued, the conditions may get worse so please talk to your dermatologist before continuing use.Redness, swelling, itchiness, tinglingIf any of the above symptoms arise when being in the sunIf you have any marks/wounds/rashes, please do not use this product on those areas.How to store the product: Close the cap after use Store in a place where infants or children will not reach Do not store in a place with high or low temperatures as well as in direct sunlight.[Directions] Take the appropriate amount and spread out. Lightly tap as you continue to spread the cream out.[Amount] 50 ml

Just as a quick note on packaging: The jar has never been filled to the brim, it's about 75% full and it can settle during transport, so be warned if you end up getting one and it looks like that- it's normal.

Swatches to show the unusual texture

When you first look at this cream, it looks like just another typical white, thick, cream.

It's anything but; it has a strange texture that's part cream, part honey, and strangely stringy, as you will see in the below 'swatch' photos.

Even so, it's not particularly sticky and absorbs well into the skin, but it's very different than the creams or gels I have tried. It's almost like ... batter? Or when you make caramel and it's turned stringy but hasn't hardened.

You can see the 'strings' that it makes more clearly in the below left image (without flash), and how much I actually use for my entire face at below right:

We meet again, white balance; one day I shall purchase a camera that allows control of the settings & you will rue that day!

Although there is some non-flash (left) vs flash (right) differences, this picture shows the hydrating effect of the cream much better than the photo I tried to take to demonstrate the difference. Not wanting to waste the excess product, I did apply it to my hand, neck, and chest, keeping a dab the size of what I use on my face for the photo at right.

See how the skin is plumped, hydrated, and skin texture is minimized? It's still a little dewy because I had just rubbed in the excess cream, but it will absorb completely in a few minutes and leave just healthy, hydrated skin behind.

Here's what happened when I tried to deliberately take a picture of this effect:

Unedited: My life is too short to fight with white balance anymore. I give up; you win this day, camera. Now if I could only get this textureless effect on my face, and permanently, I'd be happy.

Even if the hydrating and smoothing effect failed to show up on camera, allow me to wax eloquent in a sonnet of love to this cream:

Final thoughts

O Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream, with glistening swirls like petals spinning in the nimble fingers of a laughing stream, chased before my Q-tip, glistening like white jade as you- wait, wait, this isn't going to work. Let me try this again:

Why I like it so much: It does everything I expect a cream to do. It doesn't break me out, it absorbs quickly into my skin, it smells and feels amazing, and it provides hydration that lasts for hours in the desert. Without being heavy.

Half-empty jar, +barely used spatula; I usually use a Q-tip instead of the spatula b/c I'm too lazy to wash it each time.

If you've heard about the Korean concept of 촉촉 (chok-chok), this cream is absolutely all about the chok-chok. If you're not familiar with it, it translates as 'moist' but it means moist, as in hydrated, bouncy, firm, youthful, etc, and is sometimes hilariously translated as "moist and chewy" but I kinda see where they are going with that.

I'm not even sure how it does it; on the one hand, it sinks in easily into my skin very quickly, but on the other hand it leaves a bouncy feeling to my skin and it's tangibly hydrated for a good 4-6 hours despite the desert air. Witchcraft? Ancient Hanbang beauty secrets? Unicorn tears aren't listed in the ingredients, so I'm not sure what's doing it, but I'm glad.

Be warned that if you slather it on too thickly, it will become sticky and a bit heavy. Since I have dehydrated/combo skin, I stick to the normal/dry areas of my skin and avoid the outer edges/upper forehead as I do get oily there.

The biggest challenge with this cream is keeping my hands off my face, because all I want to do is pat it so I can entertain myself with the springy texture my skin has.

It's been a while since I loved something this much, and the fact that it's something that is otherwise unknown just makes finding this unexpected hidden gem that much more thrilling.

-Cat

**Disclaimer: All products reviewed/mentioned in my blog, are 100% purchased with my own money, with a single exception of a press sample I tested & reviewed in 2015 which swore me off of them forever. This blog contains both affiliate and non-affiliate links, and clicking the former before you shop means that this blog may receive a small commission to assist in this blog supporting itself. Please see my Contact Info & Disclaimer policy for more information.

Apparently a few days after I posted my review, Korea Depart started stocking it, so you could always check it out there! There will be shipping costs, but if you have other things you were planning on getting, it might be worth it.

I can't really comment on the whitening ability as it takes months to judge the whitening effect of a product, but more importantly, I use OST C20 Vitamin C serum which is a powerful whitening product will overshadow any other whitening things I use at the same time. It will be impossible for me to judge how much is the OST, and how much is the cream. :(

I am glad that you found it helpful! May I ask what method you are trying to use to subscribe? The Subscription buttons for RRS and Bloglovin' are at the top of the sidebar on the right, but if you need another format, just let me know. :)

Should all skincare products, including moisturizers, serums, sunscreen etc have a pH level of 5.5 or less? Because you said "moisturizers don't have the same challenges that cleansers do" then you discussed the importance of low pH level cleansers, and I'm not sure what you mean. I'm new into the whole pH level thing, and your blog has definitely helped me. BTW I love your spreadsheets as they have helped me to not overspend on skincare products.

Ideally, yes, unless the product does not contain any strong buffers (things that would drag around the pH of your skin) but of course there is no way for that to be known outside a lab, that I know of. The thing is, the materials that are used in cleansers are usually harshly alkaline, but then when they add pH adjusters to bring it down, it can disrupt the formulation. So cleansers can be expensive to formulate at low pH, but serums, creams, etc, are much easier so it's not as difficult to find ones that are a good pH.

I know I asked this question on your instagram, but is this cream suitable for kinda dehydrated oily skin? Would it be potentially comedone closing or whitehead causing? Let me know pretty please with ginseng and fermented black tea on top! I'm dying to Hanbang, and I don't want no side chick sheet mask, I'm lookin' around for a bae and Joseon(I'm going to try to think of Joseon as the one openly gay Korean guy who is somehow still prized by society)'s muscles are lookin' real fine.

LOL @ "side chick sheet mask" I'm #dead. I have dehydrated, combo-oily skin and it's lovely and hydrating for me. But there is no way to predict how your skin will react, sadly. I use it very sparingly in the summer, and more heavily in winter, and it's fine for me but ymmv. :(

Right now, it's slaying any attempts tretinoin is trying to make to turn me dry, so it's pretty serious stuff. Makes my skin so soft and smooth and hydrated. Unf.

I saw this on the top of Memebox when I made an order today and remembered this review! I had a feeling this baby was going to be getting bigger soon. I have to snag it! Thanks for your thoughtful review :)

Yes, I am so, soooo thrilled that my bae cream has caught on. To think this used to be a total unknown and now it's carried in so many places and sold out in some ... *sniff* they grow up so fast, don't they?

Hey Snow Cat) How are you feeling? I just received my Joseon Cream, but there is neither that pink cover in the box nor any membrane inside the jar to protect cream.... I think it's not okay, right? I see that yours has all that stuff...

I tested out the cream on two spots on my face overnight on different day. I woke up with a red film each time where I applied it to, which can be rug off with force with warm water. The problem is that it left my skin a bit red and my tiny blackhead seem more noticeable, but my skin is a bit smoother. Had anyone had this reaction? I have no idea if I should keep using it.

Too bad this product contains EGF. There is a concern for triggering underlying skin cancer. No one seems to know what happens when EGF is applied to healthy intact skin, but there's concern that with repeated use EGF can cause skin cells to overproduce (skin cancer). Psoriasis is another example when skin cells overproduce. I've purged through all of my kbeauty products as many especially with snail mucin contains EGF. I can't take that risk.

Does anyone know how much product should be in this? I dont mean the 50ml note, but rather how far up does the product fill the jar, ie should it go up to the inner lid? I got a jar from Jolse and it definitely does not go up to the inner lid line so im wondering if thats typical or if I got a bad one.

Hi Cat! Thanks so much for posting. You are a goddess for doing so :) I tried ordering the Joseon Cream from Avecko but they advised it has been discontinued T_T Are there other moisturizers (hanbang) that you can recommend, please? Thanks so much!

I loved my first pot of BoJ so much (the immediate purchase resulting from this very review) that I ordered some for my mother for Mothers' Day and am about to get a second one for myself - But! I just noticed that Amazon replaced their entry with something called "Natuzen Premium 1 Goat Milk Anti-Wrinkle & Whitening Cream". I'm digging around to see what's the what, but thought I'd give you a head's up on potential weirdness (at least, on the Amazon side of things. Memebox doesn't appear to have swapped out items yet.).

I'm so glad to hear that you liked it! :3 I did in fact discover the weird switch a few days ago and immediately reported it to Amazon; I'm waiting to hear back, and I disabled the link to their page as soon as I saw it. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of this.

Hi Cat, Thanks for this suggestion - I am deeply in love with this cream. But, suddenly, it is out of stock everywhere! And, on ebay, where I bought it before (because it is the easiest place to access all this living in the UK), the name has changed to some 'N...' Goat Milk Whitening Cream. Has the company rebranded? Or is there just a shortage of stock? Any insight would help before I call a therapist about losing my supply of this cream!

It seems that it was more popular overseas than in Korea, so it's been discontinued, but there's at least one last run that is being restocked right now, so I updated that section with where to get it.

A little late on the bandwagon but I just ordered a jar off ebay! I've been trying a sample of the Belif true cream - Moisturizing bomb which I enjoy. But I figured I would give this a shot as well! Love your blog!

This is how i was searching for Organic beauty products and i just found this post where you shared about Beauty of Joseon Dynasty Cream i wan to know that can i buy this in UK and How?Is it safe to apply on sensitive skin?

Hi, as I'm a little late to jump the bandwagon and I don't want to start discontinued products (I've flipped many tables after UNT discontinued their awesome tinted sunscreen and whitening capsules, and when Naruto changed the formula for my HG Narcissus BB cream...Sigh), do you have a replacement recommendation?

This is an old review, but just wanted to drop by and say THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME THE LIGHT to this glorious moisturizer!!!!!It's completely blown anything I've tried before out of the water. It somehow manages to perform better than my thicker creams. I just gave away my other moisturizers because I'm already helplessly in love with this omg. Like I've never adored a product this much before. On one hand, it gives me motivation to try more products, but I also feel like nothing else will compare hahaha

I'm already at the phase where I'm shoving it in my friends' faces like 105% would recommend. :)

Ugh but it's so hard to describe the texture! I've been telling people it's like a gel-cream, but not. It's like you're smoothing on a layer of moisturized skin, as creepy as that sounds xD.

Anyways, just wanted to let you know how GRATEFUL I am I came across your blog, and finally decided to get this. Off I go thinking about all the money I could of been spending on this all these years. ^^

Hi!! I have finally found you, my skin twin!! I was looking for a moisturizer since I am running out soon, and I am interested in this one since my skin twins loved it so much! However summer is almost here and do you think this one is summer appropriate or would you recommend me smt else for summer than come back to this in autumn/winter? Thanks!!

Today I was looking for a new korean cream for my daily routine so when I checked the ingredients of this I found that are pretty good. But after read your review I am going to definitely to buy this cream today.

Generally I like to give Vit C serums a wait time to let them absorb, but I'm not overly concerned about the niacinamide after Kind of Stephen covered it: https://kindofstephen.com/can-vitamin-c-ascorbic-acid-and-niacinamide-be/